Wargaming Websites

Google+ Badge

Linking to my blog? Use this button!

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Greyhawk update/designer's notes

Hey-o!

So back in January I announced that I was working on some 5E Greyhawk products on the off chance that Wizards of the Coast would eventually open up my favorite setting to designers on GM's Guild. No, this isn't some announcement that they have done so. I just want to give a quick update and let you know about the approach I'm taking.

Specifically, I've been working on what was the Players Guide to Greyhawk, because the rest all hinged on having Greyhawk-specific 5th edition material to make it all work. Unfortunately, that turned out to be too large a task for a single book.

So now, what was the Players Guide to Greyhawk is going to be three different books.

Most of the crunchy bits will be in the Player's Guide. The class options, the backgrounds, the spells, factions, etc. There will still be plenty of color, but this will be where the majority of the rules-heavy stuff will be found. All new, but a lot based on things from the earliest days of Greyhawk and the 1st Edition rules. Because I'm a 1E nerd, and proud of it.

The DM's Guide, on the other hand, is going to feature the new monsters (mostly drawn from the Greyhawk Adventures book and the Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk volume) and new magic items (again, mostly from the GA book). But the majority of it is going to give history and the current state of the Flanaess circa 576 CY; the same era as the original Folio and Gold Box editions. It will have all the information in those books, plus a lot more gleaned from all the other products that have come after; history, NPCs, etc. from various adventure modules, sourcebooks, boxed sets, articles, and some more outré sources that I think you'll find pretty cool.

I was going back and forth between just having a brief entry for each country, and going on a full-bore in-depth recitation based on the sources, and have decided to go with the latter. It won't be completely comprehensive (the book would be a thousand pages) but it'll cover everything the DM needs to get things going in 576.

And the third will be something I've been writing about for years; the Great Greyhawk Campaign. It would have all the information a DM needs to take the Greyhawk setting forward in time up to 591 CY, a full fifteen years of game time. And in so doing, it would allow the DM to set his or her game in those other periods that have been extensively covered in the past; 585 CY (From the Ashes), or 591 CY (Living Greyhawk Gazetteer).

So anyway, that which was one is now three. It's really no more work for me than I had originally envisioned (other than maybe the GGC book), but as I go through the sources, it's really just a question of putting the information in the right place.

__________

And hey! Don't forget that the GM's Day sale is still going on, and you can find almost everything from BRW Games on 30% off; if you ever wanted to check out Adventures Dark and Deep, Castle of the Mad Archmage, or nearly anything else, now's the time!

Definitely would buy! Been running a Greyhawk campaign for 39 years (since D&D Original). Converted my Greyghawk through all the editions except 4th, jumped to Pathfinder during this period and to 5e when I realized it was more old school in feel. So go for it, I'm sure you have way more material than I, and I've followed your website gaining greater insight into the greatest game world in fantasy. GREYHAWK FOREVER!

PS, Still have two of my original players to this day................God we are old-timers......

I'll be honest, even though I own 5E and like a lot of what I see there, I haven't been able to bring myself to running a "non-1E or 2E" campaign, until now. I would DEFINITELY pay good money - please tell me you'll be doing hardcover versions - for each edition.

East Coast OSR Convention

A Note on Legalities

Note: Many of the names used herein are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast Inc., Gygax Games, Troll Lord Games, Pied Piper Publishing, etc. The use herein is quite unauthorized and should not be construed to challenge their ownership of said trademarks or intellectual property in any way. This work is presented in the spirit of “fan fiction”. Some work is published under the Open Gaming License, as indicated.

I'm just a guy writing about the games and the settings and movies and other stuff that he loves.

More precisely, this Web site is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC. This Web site may use the trademarks and other intellectual property of Wizards of the Coast LLC, which is permitted under Wizards' Fan Site Policy. For example, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS®, D&D®, WORLD OF GREYHAWK® are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast and D&D® core rules, game mechanics, characters and their distinctive likenesses are the property of the Wizards of the Coast. For more information about Wizards of the Coast or any of Wizards' trademarks or other intellectual property, please visit their website at www.wizards.com.

BRW Games™, Olde School Role Playing Games™, Castle of the Mad Archmage™, Glitterdark™, The World of Erseta Fantasy Setting™, Adventures Dark and Deep™ and Adventures Great and Glorious™ are all trademarks of BRW Games, LLC.

Some links might be part of an affiliate program (RPGNow, Amazon, etc.), which could be worth a few c.p. to me. My beer fund thanks you.

Comments are moderated. Any and all comments may be deleted at will. OSR-bashing fanbois, this means you. Anonymous comments will, as a rule, not be approved; come to have a real conversation or go away, cowards.